Where Lead Hides

Video Transcript

ROSA WOODARD: Once I was tested,
I was informed that we tested
positive for lead-based paint.
Front door, window sills,
back doors, bedrooms, bathroom,
practically the whole house.

SPEAKER: Rosa Woodard is getting
lead paint removed
from her home.
Deteriorating lead paint
poses serious health hazards,
so she's getting help
from the Center
for Working Families.

EDWINA GIBSON: We abate lead
in homes in the city of Atlanta
built pre-1978.
So we address all lead hazards
in those homes.
We go into areas where
the houses appear to potentially
have lead, and we just knock
on doors, like here, this
is a free program.
We can come in and test
your home, just to see
if there's something going on.
We do this for families
because lead causes all types
of issues that a lot of people
are unaware of.
So a lot of what we do
is provide education.

SPEAKER: Lead is an often
invisible problem that can occur
in older homes
all across the US.
Homes built before 1978
are at higher risk
for lead paint contamination.
And homes built before 1988
are at risk for lead
in the water supply.

ROBERT GELLER: For lead, it only
gets into your body
in one of two ways.
Either you swallow it or you
breathe it in.
Homes that still have that paint
on the wall can have that become
available in the air
or as dust on the floor.
And then a young child can eat
it, it can fall onto food
surfaces that are then used
for food preparation,
or on the food itself.

Water poses two different kinds
of hazards.
One is your interior plumbing.
The other is your exterior, what
the water supply that arrives
at the house.

SPEAKER: Ingesting even
tiny amounts of lead
is especially
harmful for children.

ROBERT GELLER: We're looking
at children who have
an increased rate of learning
disabilities
and more likely to have
attention deficit like symptoms
with higher lead levels.

SPEAKER: Because of this danger,
Rosa and her grandchildren
will move out for at least
a month while the lead paint is
remediated in her home.

ROSA WOODARD: My goal is just
to make sure that everybody get
tested.
I wish that for all of us
in this community.

SPEAKER: But getting tested
isn't always simple.
Laura was asked by the water
utility
in her suburban neighborhood
to test her drinking water
for lead.
Doing the test was easy,
but getting the results wasn't.
Because she's worried
about the negative impact
on her home value, Laura wishes
to keep her identity secret.

LAURA: I was called
on the phone,
and they said they're going
to be testing drinking water.
And they needed people
to volunteer to be tested,
and they wanted my house tested,
so I said yes.
I was definitely worried
about the lead,
having two kids at home
and was also
interested in knowing what
my drinking water levels were.

SPEAKER: Two years went
by without Laura getting
the results.
Federal law requires that people
who test for lead
get their results back in 30
days.

LAURA: When it didn't come back,
I just assumed maybe it was lost
in the mail.
And I kind of after two or three
phone calls, I just let it go.

SPEAKER: Finally, a letter came
in the mail.
Her lead levels were 25 parts
per billion.
The EPA's legal limit is 15.

LAURA: I do a lot to take care
of my house, my health.
We eat right, we exercise.
But you really can't control
your drinking water.
It comes out of the tap,
and you're at the mercy
of whatever water company
that you have, and you hope
and pray that it's safe,
but you don't know.

ROBERT GELLER: We believe
that adults are more
tolerant to the acute effects
of lead.
We know that it also creates
a higher likelihood that they
will have high blood pressure,
and it is associated
with a higher risk of kidney
disease.

SPEAKER: Laura plans to retest
her water,
then decide what to do next.
ROBERT GELLER: If it's coming
from internal water supplies,
probably the best thing
to do frankly
is to replace your plumbing.
Or if the problem is
in the community water,
you can use bottled water
or you can use a filter system
that is either a whole house
water filter or a filter
specifically on the faucet.

SPEAKER: A month later, Rosa
is back in her home
now that the risk of lead
has been removed.

ROSA WOODARD: I felt like I
didn't have a place that I
belong where I felt comfortable,
happy, and safe.
Now, the feeling is different.
It's positive.
It's full of energy, there's
more light.
There's life again
in this house.